Aboul Gheit: If Marwan Was Cheater, Egypt Wouldn’t Have Shocked Israel in October War

By: Nour Elhoda Fouad, Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Jan. 26 (SEE) – Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmad Aboul Gheit, recalled memories at pivotal positions in the history of Egypt and the Arab world during the first symposium of the “Tharwat Okasha” hall at the Cairo International Book Fair at its fiftieth session, where AL is guest of honor this session.

Asked about the accusation of the late Ashraf Marwan - the son-in-law of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Aboul Gheit said: “When Marwan died, I informed former President Hosni Mubarak and we were invited to receive a diplomatic figure. Mubarak said, "Oh, that was a loyal man and he should be brought to Egypt for his final resting place."

He added: “This man was serving Egyptian intelligence, and we supplied him with information and news”.

Marwan was the main character in a Hollywood film called "The Angel" about his life, which portrayed him as a traitor.

Aboul Gheit added that there is evidence from the deputy head of the Egyptian intelligence that he was working as a double agent in favor of Egypt, and there is a statement from another prominent figure that Marwan was providing false information to Israel. Aboul Gheit wondered if their claim is true, why did not expect Egypt to strike at 2pm? "

Aboul Gheit pointed out to a plan of 400 pages on strategic deception, including fishing before the Israeli army until some time close to the air strike, to reassure the Israeli side and the fishing continued until the last minutes before the attack.

The symposium entitled "A Witness to War and Peace" and it tackled the book published by ‘Dar Nahdet Misr’ two years ago, as well as the book "Shahadi"  (My testimony) which includes some historical stages in the life of the Arabs during the past two decades. Included are the Palestinian issue, the Arab Spring and the Arab-Israeli conflict and the foreign policies of Egypt during the rule of former President Mubarak, which he considered “a ground proof of nationality”, despite disagreement from many others. He recalled efforts of Mubarak to to protect the borders of Egypt and its lands and security until last minute “which is the case with all members of Egypt's military... and the army will remain the protector of Egypt, the secret of its power forever."

Speaking about the Arab League contemporary situation and challenges, the Secretary General said: "The League is very difficult to describe.. my role is like walking on broken eggs that we avoid more of its breaking all the time."